I, the Ming Dynasty, can still save me

Chapter 169: Equalizing land and equalizing labor (please subscribe)

The two looked at each other and knew that the time had come. They immediately stood up and followed He Ning to Dongnuang Pavilion.

The group passed the palace gate and arrived at the entrance of Dongnuang Pavilion, where they saw Wei Zhongxian arriving under the leadership of the young eunuch.

This made them think for a while. The emperor estimated that Long Yan was furious and was preparing to arrest someone.

Entering Dongnuan Pavilion, he saw Zhu Youxiao looking at the title book on the slip without raising his head, so he bowed to say hello.

"Your Majesty Saint Ann."

"You are here, please come and give me a seat."

Zhu Youxiao then raised his head and looked at them, then took Zou Yuanbiao's title book and shook it in his hand, and said angrily.

"You don't care about the draft, just bring it over to me to see. Are you specifically using this to make me angry?"

"I have neglected my duty, but this matter is indeed extremely bad, and I dare not make a decision. Your Majesty's Holy Judgment is needed."

Looking at the emperor's appearance, Liu Yishen knew that he was very angry after reading this question book, but they weren't like that.

"Your Majesty, Mr. Liu Ge is right. This matter is extremely bad. Farming is a major plan of the country. This county official wantonly obstructs farming and has no regard for the king's law. If he is not punished, where is the majesty of the court and where is the law of the court."

Ye Xianggao's opinions are highly consistent with Liu Yishen's.

They, Donglin, worked hard to make plans for the country, but these cockroaches blocked them wantonly. How could this not make them angry, so he was not satisfied when he saw the emperor, so he immediately spoke and suggested that Zhu Youxiao order the punishment.

Zhu Youxiao had already had this intention, but he was still a little confused.

"I just thought about it, but it doesn't work. The title book says that these prefectures and counties already have idle uncultivated land, but they refuse to give it to the court for farming. Dong Yingju really has no choice but to buy the land and hire people. They also wantonly obstructed the cultivation, claiming that it was a donation to flatter the imperial court.”

"But aren't these state and county government officials also officials of the imperial court? They are still under the emperor's feet. Why are they so blatantly obstructing and opposing them? What is the reason that makes them dare to do this? Or is it the overwhelming opposition."

"So every time I think about this matter, I feel very sad. What's going on here in Gyeonggi, but how about other places, isn't it even more serious?"

The two nodded silently. The emperor's question hit the nail on the head, but it also went straight to the core. If it is true that the capital is like this, wouldn't it be more serious in other places?

But Wei Zhongxian on the side heard that these state and county officials were so shameless, which made the emperor sigh again and again, and he was suddenly angry. He wanted to vent his anger for the emperor, so he immediately knelt down and said:

"These people are really cowardly. His Majesty is so worried about state affairs. They don't know how to work together as one. Instead, they obstruct state affairs at every turn.

I think these are all with ulterior motives, and please ask the old slave to take the people from Dongchang to arrest these people, interrogate them strictly, and find out the culprits behind the scenes. Kill those who deserve to be killed, and ransack the homes of those who deserve to be searched. Let them take a look. The consequences of opposing the imperial court are to serve as a warning to others. "

What Wei Zhongxian said was so murderous that Liu Yishen and his wife felt chills running down their backs. It was indeed necessary to investigate, and it was necessary to arrest him, but according to Wei Zhongxian's thoughts, this was going to lead to a big prison.

"You are a person who always arrests and kills people. Are you addicted to ransacking homes? If you can solve all the problems by killing, then it will be easier."

Zhu Youxiao also knew that a group of people had to be killed, but the point was that after the disposal, the replacement officials would definitely be obedient. It was hard to say.

Liu Yishui felt that the atmosphere was getting worse and worse, and gradually became murderous. He thought that he could not let Wei Zhongxian say that he was killing people and ransacking homes all day long.

"Your Majesty is right. Although this matter requires punishment, it cannot be solved by killing people. Your Majesty asked what was the reason for them to be so opposed to the court. After thinking about it, I felt that the key lies in the administration of officials and the lax supervision of the court. The censor's unfavorable inspection allowed local officials to act so wantonly, so we should take this matter as an opportunity to rectify the administration of officials and impose severe punishments."

"Public administration, Lord Chief Assistant puts it lightly. How to rectify the official administration. According to your opinion, it is nothing more than sending more people to inspect places and conduct more assessments. These are old things. If they are useful, these officials will still use them like this."

When Wei Zhongxian heard Liu Yishui's words, he was immediately amused and sarcastic. Liu Yishui was also so angry that Wei Zhongxian turned livid. How come this eunuch was always against him? How could he discuss important matters in the court?

"Eunuch Wei made a mistake. This is a major matter for the imperial court, and it is not as simple as Eunuch Wei said."

Wei Zhongxian's face suddenly turned red from the rebuke. Liu Yishen was clearly telling him not to talk nonsense if he didn't understand.

"Okay, okay, what are you two arguing about?"

The quarrel between the two people gave Zhu Youxiao a headache. Although Liu Yisui's words were a cliché, they were not useless. People's hearts are the most unpredictable. We cannot believe that everyone is selfless and dedicated to the court, so we can only rely on them once. Only one assessment can be done by the inspector.

But even Zhu Youxiao knew this cliché, and now he wanted to hear some specific and useful words. "Ye Xianggao, you haven't spoken just now. Please tell me why they are like this and whether there is any solution."

Ye Xianggao finally waited for this moment. Liu Yishuo also looked at Ye Xianggao. The official administration he just mentioned was just an appetizer. In the past few days, at the mansion and Wenyuan Pavilion, he, Ye Xianggao, Zou Yuanbiao and other Donglin people I have been planning for a long time. There are methods and solutions, but the emperor is more and more reluctant to do it.

Ye Xianggao also secretly took a deep breath, stabilized his mind, and began to reply.

"Your Majesty asked why this happened. Your Majesty knows the answer to this question. The ministers have also made it clear that in the final analysis it is caused by the expansion of the power of the gentry and the loss of power of the court. All of this is the result of the neglect of government since Shenzong.

Although His Majesty wanted to revitalize the government after he came to the throne, he listened to the cabinet's suggestions and ordered the selection of officials to fill the vacancies. However, in the past 20 years, the influence of powerful officials in many places has increased sharply and they have swayed local power. This cannot be done by filling the vacancies temporarily. It was restored, so the imperial decrees would not be circulated locally. "

"Take this farming incident as an example. Those Yamen officials could have occupied the vacant land in the Yamen, and now they have to hand it over. Farming is beneficial to the country, but what good is it to these states and counties? The taxes paid for farming are not If it is handed over to them, but directly to the country, how could they agree to it? Naturally, they will obstruct it in every possible way."

Zhu Youxiao could naturally understand Ye Xianggao's explanation. He didn't know the dangers of powerful people in these places. He just touched them rashly for fear of causing trouble. However, after hearing Ye Xianggao say it several times, it was It's not that I want to move.

Zhu Youxiao picked up the teacup, tasted it slowly, and began to think in his mind.

The current Donglin Party still has some capable people and wants to get rid of the current evils.Therefore, since they came to the throne, they have repeatedly spoken out about the dangers of local tyrants, indicating that they have seen this for a long time and want to take action.

Now Zou Yuanbiao of the Donglin Party is trying to implement the land policy and is being blocked. This will definitely make these people dissatisfied with the powerful officials of the Gyeonggi Yamen. That's why there is a drama where you have to decide whether you have the votes or not. It seems that you have to support it yourself. , so that they can follow the trend.

Although Zhu Youxiao doubted whether they really had the courage and ability, since they had this intention, he also wanted to ask the cabinet what their plans were.

"I also understand what Ye Aiqing said, but this matter cannot be stopped just because of obstruction. In the land of the capital, the court cannot deal with such powerful officials and people. But since you say this, does it mean there is already a way?"

"Yes, but it is difficult to do and requires His Majesty's support."

Ye Xianggao immediately said seriously when he saw such a question.

"Whatever method, tell me quickly, as long as it can benefit the country and the people, I will definitely support it."

Seeing how serious they said it, Zhu Youxiao naturally knew that this matter would be difficult. But it seemed that everyone in the cabinet had already made up his mind, so he naturally wanted to hear it.When Ye Xianggao heard this, he looked at Liu Yishui. After Liu Yishuang nodded understandingly, he immediately said:

"Does Your Majesty know Xu Minshi?"

Who is Xu Minshi?Zhu Youxiao was confused, and it was not his fault. Although he had traveled through time for more than half a year, he still didn't know much about many officials.

Seeing that the emperor didn't quite understand, Liu Yishen immediately explained to Zhu Youxiao.

"Your Majesty, Xu Minshi was a Jinshi in the 37th year of Wanli. In the [-]th year of Wanli, Xu Minshi was promoted to the imperial censor of Youqiandu of the Metropolitan Procuratorate and the governor of Jiangnan. During his tenure, he was the governor of Jiangnan."

"He implemented reforms in Southern Zhili to equalize land and corvee, inventory the acres of land that were given free tax, and required those township officials and powerful landowners who had evaded taxes to pay the grain and serve as errands. The corvee was arranged according to the size of the land. Whoever had more land would perform heavy labor. .”

"In this way, no matter what kind of family you are or what position you hold, as long as the land owned by your family exceeds the number of exemptions and exemptions stipulated by the court, the court will arrange labor according to the number of exemptions and exemptions."

“So Xu Minshi’s practice of equalizing land and labor allowed many aristocratic families who owned thousands of miles of land to arrange corvee labor. This virtually alleviated the corvée pressure on the small and medium-sized gentry and the common people, and was strongly supported by these people.

Although some wealthy families went to Beijing to complain, they were all stopped by Mr. Ye Ge, who was the chief minister at the time.Only then could Xu Min's practice of equalizing land and labor be implemented. "

Having said this, everyone also looked at Ye Xianggao.

"This is all promoted by Xu Minshi. I dare not be greedy for credit."

"Yes, I didn't expect Mr. Ye Ge to have such merit. If Liu Aiqing hadn't said it, I wouldn't have known about it."

After listening to Liu Yishen's explanation just now, Zhu Youxiao immediately understood that this was the Ming Dynasty version of one person serving as a servant and one person receiving food.

After he came to the throne, Zhu Youxiao has been attending scripture lectures and gradually learned a lot about the system of the Ming Dynasty. He knew that in the Ming Dynasty, except for specific land such as Huangzhuang, basically the common people and gentry had to pay taxes. This was different from the Qing Dynasty. The tax exemption for the gentry is completely different.

It's just that the gentry and common people in the Ming Dynasty paid very little in regular taxes, and they could no longer bear the burden. What really caused headaches for the common people were various corvées and assessments.

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(End of this chapter)